This 400-page book is a collection of 15 responsa that studies the status of women in the synagogue and public life, prefaced by two introductory essays on approaches to the topic since 1845. Rabbi Golinkin deals with the tension that exists between Jewish Law and modernity, striving to bridge the gap between tradition and change. This important work points to the flexibility within Jewish Law that allows women to participate in most areas of Jewish ritual.

Rabbi Golinkin deals with questions such as women being counted in the minyan (quorum of 10 for community prayer) and serving as Shelihot Tzibbur (prayer leaders), women being called for aliyot to the Torah, women reciting the mourners’ Kaddish, women putting on tefillin (phylacteries), women acting as poskot (decisors of Jewish Law), the ordination of women rabbis, and more.

“This book is historic in more ways than one. Your work in this area is, in addition, to your deep scholarship and knowledge, a fantastic pedagogic tool. Keep those volumes coming!”
Rabbi Naamah Kelman
Dean, Hebrew Union College

Jerusalem Israel

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
The Participation of Jewish Women in Public Rituals and Torah Study 1845-2010
Nine Approaches to the Status of Women in Jewish Law in the Twentieth Century
1. Women and Tefillin
2. Woman and Singing – Kol B’isha Erva
3. Women in the Minyan and as Shelihot Tzibbur
4. Adding the Imahot to the Amidah
5. Reciting the “Barukh Shepetarani” Blessing for a Bat Mitzvah
6. Aliyot for Women
7. Women and Reading the Megillah
8. Reciting Verses Honoring Esther Aloud During the Megillah Reading
9. Women as Mohalot
10. The Participation of Women in Funerals
11. Women and the Mourner’s Kaddish
12. The Active Participation of Women in the Marriage Ceremony and Sheva Berakhot
13. Women as Poskot
14. The Mehitzah in the Synagogue
15. The Ordination of Women as Rabbis
Public Office
Studying and Teaching Torah
Prayer and positive time-bound commandments
Judging

A Eulogy for Devorah Golinkin z”l
A Eulogy for Rabbi Monique Susskind Goldberg z”l
Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations
Original Place of Publication of the Responsa
Subject Index